The daughter of an 87-year woman said that her mother had been left in soiled clothes after a fall and did not have a proper bed for almost four days.
Last week, a report from the Care Quality Commission (CQC) found that Ipswich Hospital ‘required improvement’ amid concerns over record keeping and patient wait times.
Ipswich Hospital has come under fire after a CQC report revealed that it ‘requires improvement’ (Image: Newsquest)
Since then, readers of this newspaper and residents in Ipswich have got in touch with their experiences at Ipswich Hospital.
A woman shared the experiences of her mother, both of whom asked not to be identified, after scans showed a bleed on the brain following a fall on January 6.
Despite her condition, the daughter claims her mother had to spend around three and a half days waiting for a hospital bed, much of that time on trolleys and chairs in A&E.
Her family described long waits to see a doctor and claimed she later developed pressure sores. They added they felt she was discharged with little follow-up support.
Her daughter said: “Mum was still in wet, soiled clothing from the night before after an accident was continually moved from trolley to chair as the cubicle was required throughout the night, by 10am next morning she was exhausted and had had enough.
She said that the new A&E building was “awful” with “not enough clinic rooms or cubicles” but did praise the staff at Ipswich Hospital, instead putting the blame on management and the government.
When contacted by this newspaper, ESNEFT said that they would not be able to provide a comment as an official complaint had not been raised.
CQC inspections into services run by ESNEFT
Ipswich Hospital was rated as “required improvement” by CQC following its previous inspection in January 2020 with a number of issues highlighted.
Last year, just after the reinspection of the hospital took place a warning notice was issued, ordering the hospital to improve its services.
Colchester Hospital, also run by ESNEFT was similar rated as “requires improvement” by CQC last year, with the report published in October 2025.
ESNEFT as a service provider was also rated as “requires improvement” at a inspection of its services as a whole in 2019.
Long time chief executive Nick Hulme stepped down from his position as ESNEFT chief at the end of last year.